Glovers and Tanners

Learn and share information about the movers and shakers of 
the past that created two cities in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York. A library of H.A. Manning City Directories dating back to 1865 is available for information.
A Brief History of the Glove and Leather Industry of Fulton County, New York
    
The bulk of Fulton County's history centers around the glove and leather industry. Johnstown and Gloversville were home to numerous glove manufacturing companies and dozens of leather tanners and finishers. Thousands of people were employed by or affiliated with the glove and leather industries, making them a major part of the economic history of the two cities. 

Throughout most of the history of the glove industry in Johnstown and Gloversville, most companies used home workers to sew the gloves. Men cut the gloves from leather in factories and women hand sewed the gloves at home. Later when the sewing machine was developed, many women moved to the factories to work. Until the last years of the 20th century, home glove workers were still working in the area.
 
Today, there are a handful of leather tanneries and finishing plants and a few glove companies still in existence, locally. The great "glove cities" are nothing like they once were when nearly every area family had a part in the one-time "glove making capital of the world".

Wikipedia Link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown_(city),_New_York#Glove_industry_and_related_enterprise





Origin, Growth and Methods of the Glove and Mitten Manufacture of Fulton County
http://www.fulton.nygenweb.net/history/glove.html
  HISTORY---HISTORY---HISTORY---HISTORY---HISTORY---HISTORY
         Elmer Little & Sons
             700 S. Perry St.
                Johnstown
                     1960
Kiffney Glove Co.
Shotwell Tannery
 361-369 S. Main St
      Gloversville
           1905
Spanish-American
        Skin Co.
 11-13 Cayadutta St.
      Gloversville
            1940
P.P. Argersinger & Co
      2-8 N. William St.
         Johnstown
             1905
Leather Gloves
King's Tannery
 56-72 Miller St
    Johnstown
       1900
Stewart & Briggs
   5 N. Melcher St.
      Johnstown
           1900
Thomas E. Ricketts
    7 N. Melcher St.
        Johnstown
            1900
Northrup Glove Mfg. Co.
   Glove Leather Tannery
     Mill St. (Pleasant Av) 
            Johnstown
                 1902
J.P. Miller & Co.
  Glove Factory
 30 S. Melcher St
    Johnstown
        1905
                     Rickett's Mill
                 Sheepskin Dressing
W. Main St (near Cayadutta St.), Johnstown
                            1860
Knox Gelatine Works
     Original Factory
  Knox Av., Johnstown
             1890
   Mason, Campbell & Co.
           Glove Factory
10-12 N. Perry St, Johnstown
                  1900

J.H. Decker, Son & Company
              Glove Factory
   29 N. Market St., Johnstown
                   1900
                        Starr & Geisler Tannery
                   
             "The Starr Mill"
            South Boulevard (off Harrison St), Gloversville
                                        1905
Karg, Tomlinson & Butler
312 N. Perry St., Johnstown
                    1905
Argersinger Bros.
Kiffney Glove Co.
   J.I. McMartin's Sons
3 E. Clinton St., Johnstown
                  1930
Kennedy & Co.
318 W. Fulton St
   Gloversville
        1890
  Hewitt & Hillock
111-113 N. Perry St.
      Johnstown
          1905
A.M. Adams & Son
     12 E. Green St
        Johnstown
             1902
     David A. Wells' Tannery
Washington & Mill St. (Pleasant Av.)
              Johnstown
                   1870
31 Beaver St., Johnstown (1930)
The original J.Q. Adams wooden tannery was lost to fire in 1918 and
quickly replaced with this state-of-the-art concrete and steel facility.
The building was later home to the Crescendoe-Superb Glove Co,
and still exists at the end of Crescendoe Rd, formerly Beaver Street.
(see miscellaneous page for a pic of the original wooden mill)
View of the skin bleaching yard of the Northrup Glove Leather Tannery,
 Mill St. (Pleasant Av), Johnstown, circa 1900 looking South from Grove St.